Car door



June 2, 193%. s. REESE 2 CAR DOOR Filed Dec. 8, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l JQVVE/VTOE June 2, 1%36. 5 REESE 14142731 CA-R DOOR Filed Dec. 8, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 2, 1936 STATES PATENT OFFICE CAR. DOOR Company, Cleveland, Ohio Ohio, a corporation of Application December 8, 1934, Serial No. 756,575

12 Claims.

This invention relates to car doors and concerns itself more particularly with the construction of sliding car doors whereby novel and effective weatherproofing association is obtained between a margin of the doors and an adjacent portion of a car side.

It is an object of this invention to provide car doors embodying swinging weather or sealing strips adapted for cooperation with guard strips provided on the cars, the swinging of the door sealing strips into cooperative relationship with the guard strips being effected automatically in the final closing movement of the door.

A further object is to provide sliding car doors embodying swinging weather or sealing strips adapted for cooperation with guard strips provided on the cars, the construction being such that the projection of the guard strips beyond the car side is substantially eliminated.

A further object is to provide car doors slidably mounted upon tracks and embodying swinging weather strips adapted for cooperative engagement with guard strips provided on the cars, the doors in their travel to open position being movable laterally to provide clearance between the weather strips and the sides of the car.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description of the invention proceeds the invention comprises the novel structure and combination of parts hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out and defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings forming a part of the specification Figure l is a partial elevation of a railway car embodying the instant invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3--3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken on line 44 of Figure l;

Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken on line 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 showing a modified form of the invention;

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 2 of the form of invention shown in Figure 6; and 50 Figure 8 is a horizontal section taken on line 8-8 of Figure 7.

Referring first to Figures 1 to 5, inclusive, of the drawings which illustrate one embodiment of the instant invention, the reference numeral I I3 designates a side of a railway house car. This car side is provided with a door opening II the rear margin of which is defined by means of a door post l2, one leg I3 of which extends in the direction of closing movement of the door.

The lower margin of the door opening I I is defined by the outwardly extending horizontal leg M of an angle member l5 the vertically disposed leg N5 of which is secured to a side sill ll of the car. A plurality of spaced brackets one of which is indicated at E8 is also secured to the sill I I as by means of rivets [9. The brackets I8 are adapted to support a track 20 secured to said brackets by means of rivets 2|. As clearly appears in Figure 2 of the drawings the track 20 is disposed in vertically spaced relationship below the horizontal flange I 4 of the angle member IS.

The side wall it) comprises outer metallic sheathing 22 provided with an inwardly directed flange 23 abutting the rear door post l2 and secured thereto in any desired manner. The sheathing 22 is so disposed that it extends outwardly of the flange l3 of the door post l2. The sheathing 22 and the flange I3 of the door post cooperate, in conjunction with a guard strip 24 secured to the edge of the flange l3 as by means of welding, to provide a pocket 25 for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. The guard strip 24 is a substantially angular member having a flange 26 directed outwardly and rearwardly. It will be apparent from a consideration of Figure 5 of the drawings that the outward extent of the guard strip 24 is limited substantially to the plane of the sheathing 22.

In the angle formed by the association of the door post I 2 and the inwardly directed flange 23 of the metallic sheathing there is positioned a plate member 21 which preferably is welded to the flange l3 of the post, the flange 23 of the sheathing and to the track 20.

The door opening H is adapted to be controlled by means of a sliding door 28. This door, as clearly shown in the drawings, is preferably of metallic construction and comprises a metallic panel 29 which may be provided with spaced horizontal corrugations 30, merging at their ends into vertical corrugations provided in the panel, one of said vertical corrugations being indicated at 3|. The upper margin of the panel may be reinforced by an angle member 32 having an outwardly extending horizontal leg 33 adapted to cooperate with a retaining bar 34 secured to the car above the door opening as by means of welding in order to prevent accidental disengagement of the upper portion of the door from the car side. The lower margin of the panel may be reinforced by an angle member 35.

To the rear margin of the door there is secured a plate member 36. A filler plate 31 is disposed between the plate member and the door panel 29 and these parts are secured together as by means of rivets 38. The plate member 36 is preferably provided with a flange 39 which abuts one side of the vertical corrugation 3|.

as indicated at 40. This marginal portion, consequently, 22 when the door is in its closed-position to re.- strict the entrance of the elements tothe inside of the door.

The rivets 38 are also utilized to secure upon the rear margin of the door a plurality of vertically spaced brackets 4| and 42. If desired the brackets 41 and 42 may be of the same construction. Each of the brackets 41 and 42 is adapted to receive a hinge indicated in its entirety by the numeral 43 and comprising a vertically disposed pin 44 and a hinge butt 45. It will be clear from Figure 5 of the drawings that the hinge butt 45 is adapted to swing about the pin 44. The hinge butt 45 is extended inwardly and for this purpose the plate member 36 is provided with apertures 46. To the inwardly extending portion of the hinge butt 45 there is secured as by means of welding a weather strip 4'1? which is intact throughout its. length. The weather strip 4'! extends from the track 20 to substantially the top of the door opening.

The door 28 is preferably of the type known as lift door. This type of door is characterized by the fact that in its normal or lowered position it is frictionally supported upon the track and in the instant. embodiment of the invention this frictional support is established by the engagement between the angle member 35 secured to the lower margin of the door and the track 25. The door may be moved from its closed position upon rollers 48 whichconstitute part of a lifting mechanism, the details of which are unnecessary to a full disclosure of the instant invention, and which, consequently, will not be herein described. It is to be noted, however, that this mechanism embodies a cover plate .49 secured adjacent the lower right hand corner of the door as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings. The lower portion of the cover plate which extends downwardly below the track is hook-shaped in section as indicated at El] and is adapted to have interengagement with the depending flange 5i of the track 20 in order to prevent accidental disengagement of the lower portion of the door from the track. The depending leg 5| of the track is provided with an indenture 52 while the cover member is offset as indicated at 53 in the direction of the indenture. The purpose of this construction will later appear.

When it is desired to move the door from its closed position, as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings, toward open position, the lifting mechanism is actuated so as to raise the door above the track and dispose the weight thereof upon the rollers 48. The door may then be moved upon the rollers which support the weight of the door upon the track toward the right, as viewed in Figure 1, in order to expose the door opening. During the initial portion of this movement the offset portion 53 of the cover plate 49 which, in the closed position of the door, is received within The plate mendabout the pin 44 to dispose the weather strip in ber 36 extends rearwardly and the marginal er:

tion thereof is bent inwardly toward the car side cooperates with the metallic sheathing the indenture 52 of the depending leg 5| of the track, will move out of said indenture thereby imparting an outward movement to the door. During this initial opening movement of the door the weather strip 4'? will be guard strip and as the door moves toward the right will engage the corner of the metallic sheathing 22 formed by the inwardly directed flange 23 thereof so as to swing said weather strip substantially parallel relationship to the metallic sheathing 22, as clearly indicated by the dot and dash lines in Figure 5 of the drawings. The outward movement of the door caused by the association between the offset portion 53 of the cover plate and the'indenture 52 of the track will insure sufficient clearance between the weather strip 41 and the metallic sheathing 22 to prevent interference with the sliding movement of the door. As is customary in the art, the opening movement of the door will be limited by back stops (not shown) which will be engaged by an inwardly directed flange 54 provided on each of the brackets 4| and 42.

The invention contemplates the automatic engagement between the weather strip 41 swingingly mounted upon the rear margin of the door and the flange 26 of the guard strip 24. To this end, and as the door is moved toward closed position, a projection 55 provided on the lower portion of the sealing strip 41 will, in the final closing movement of the door, engage the plate member 21 which is disposed in the path of movement of the projection 55 so as to cause swinging movement to be imparted to the weather strip 41. This swinging movement is sufficient to insure the overlapping engagement between the Weather strip 4? and the guard strip illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawings and preferably .continues until engagement is obtained between the rear edge of the weather strip and the plate member 36. This engagement provides an additional seal for the rear edge of the door. As the door assumes its closed position the inwardly disposed branch 56 of the hook'portion 50 provided on the cover plate 49 will engage the projection formed by the provision of the indenture 52 and thus urge the door inwardly so as to dispose the inner face of the. door in proximate relationship to the outer edge of the leg 44 of the angle member I5. 5

A modified form of the invention is illustrated in Figures 6, '7, and 8 of the drawings. In this form of the invention theplate '2'! as well as the projection 55 provided on the sealing strip are dispensed with and the guard strip itself con- 5 tacts the weather strip. in order to impart swinging movement thereto.

It is preferred, in this modification of the invention, to utilize an angle member 51 secured to the underside ofthe outwardly extending leg I4 6 of the angle member I5 so that said angle member 51 extends outwardly beyond the leg 14 in order to decrease the distance between the outer edge of the leg l4 and the inner face of the door. The angle member 51 preferably extends so as 6 to abut the guard strip 58 and serve as a backing therefor. The guard strip 58 may be secured to the flange .l3 of the door post I2 in the same manner as described in the previous. embodiment of the invention.

The track 2E! in the considered embodiment of the invention is provided with an indenture 59 which is elongated relative to the indenture 52 provided in the track 20 in the previously considered embodiment disengaged from the 5 of the invention. In Figure 8 of the drawings there is shown the relationship between the hook portion 50 of the cover plate 49 and the indenture 59 provided in the depending leg 5! of the track at the time when engagement between the weather strip 6!] and the guard strip 58 occurs. It will be apparent from the consideration of this figure of the drawings, together with the relationship between the rear margin of the door, illustrated in dot and dash lines in Figure 6 of the drawings, and the guard strip 58 that the hook portion 50 and the indenture 59 cooperate in the closing movement of the door to insure that the guard strip 53 will lie in the path of movement of the sealing strip 56. In other words, the hook portion and the indenture cooperate to move the door inwardly so as to bring about the alignment between the guard strip 58 and the weather strip 68 as shown in Figure 8 of the drawings. Upon continued movement of the door toward closed positionthat is, toward the left as viewed in Figure 8 of the draw ings, a swinging movement will be imparted to the sealing strip at by virtue of its engagement with the guard strip 58 so as to dispose the sealing strip in overlapping weatherproofing relationship with the guard stripfiii.

It will be apparent that numerous changes and modifications in the details of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art. It is intended, therefore, that all such modifications and changes be comprehended within this invention, which is to be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a railway freight car having a wall provided with a door opening, a guard strip secured to said Wall adjacent the rear of said opening, said guard strip extending outwardly substantially to the outer plane of said wall, a track secured to said car, a door for closing said opening slidably supported upon said track, a sealing strip swingably carried upon the rear margin of said door, said sealing strip being normally positioned outwardly relative to said guard strip and means for automatically disposing said weather strip in the path of said guard strip in the sliding movement of said door to closed position, said guard strip engaging and imparting swinging movement to said sealing strip to establish sealing relationship therewith in the final closing movement of said door.

In a railway freight car having a wall provided with a door opening, a guard strip having a rearwardly directed flange secured to said wall adjacent the rear of said opening, said guard strip extending outwardly substantially to the outer plane of said wall, a track secured to said car, a door for closing said opening slidably supported upon said track, a sealing strip swingably carried upon the rear margin of said door, said sealing strip being normally positioned outwardly relative to said rearwardly directed flange and means for automatically disposing said weather strip inwardly of said rearwardly directed flange in the sliding movement of said door to closed position said flange engaging and imparting swinging movement to said sealing strip to establish sealing relationship therewith in the final closing movement of said door.

3. In a railway freight car having a wall provided with a door opening, a guard strip secured to said wall adjacent the rear of said opening, said guard strip extending outwardly substantially to the outer plane of said wall, a track secured to said car, a door for closing said opening slidably supported upon said track, a sealing strip swingably carried upon the rear margin of said door, said sealing strip being normally positioned outwardly relative to said guard strip and means for automatically disposing said Weather strip in the path of said guard strip in the sliding movement of said door to closed position, said guard strip engaging and imparting swinging movement to said sealing strip to establish sealing relationship therewith in the final closing movement of said door, said sealing strip also having sealing engagement with said door in the closed position thereof.

4. A slidable door comprising a plate member secured to the rear margin thereof, supporting elements secured to said margin, hinges supported by said elements, portions of said hinges extending inwardly through apertures provided in said plate member and a sealing strip disposed inwardly of said plate member and secured to said hinges.

5. A slidable door comprising a plate member extending substantially the height of said door secured to the rear margin thereof, means embodying hinge elements secured upon the outside of said plate member, said hinge elements extending through apertures in said plate member inwardly thereof and an intact sealing strip extending substantially the height of said door secured to said inwardly extending portions of said hinge elements.

6. A slidable door comprising a plate member secured to the rear margin thereof, supporting elements secured to said margin, hinges supported by said elements, portions of said hinges extending inwardly through apertures provided in said plate member and a sealing strip disposed inwardly of said plate member and secured to said hinges, said supporting elements being provided with abutments whereby said elements constitute striking devices for limiting opening movement of said door.

7. In a railway freight car having a wall provided with a door opening, a guard strip secured to said wall adjacent the rear of said opening, said guard strip extending outwardly substantially to the outer plane of said wall, a track secured to said car, a door for closing said opening slidably supported upon said track, a sealing strip swingably carried upon the rear margin of said door said sealing strip being normally positioned outwardly relative to said guard strip and cooperating means on said car and sealing strip engageable in the closing movement of said door to swing said sealing strip across said guard strip to insure sealing engagement between said strips.

8. In a railway freight car having a wall provided with a door opening, a guard strip secured to said wall adjacent the rear of said opening, said guard strip extending outwardly substantially to the outer plane of said wall, a track secured to said car, a door for closing said opening slidably supported upon said track, a sealing strip swingably carried upon the rear margin of said door, said sealing strip being normally positioned outwardly relative to said guard strip, an inwardly directed abutment member provided on said sealing strip, an abutment member secured to said car inthe path of said former abutment member when said door moves to closed position, said abutment members being engageable during closing movement of said door to swing said sealing strip across said guard strip for the purpose set forth.

9. In a railway freight car having a wall provided with a door opening, a guard strip secured to said wall adjacent the rear of said opening, said guard strip extending outwardly substan-- tially to the outer plane of said wall, a track secured to said car, a door for closing said opening slidably supported upon said track, a sealing strip swingably carried upon the rear margin of said door said sealing strip being normally'positioned outwardly relative to said guard strip, an abutment provided on said track, means on said door engageable with said abutment in the closing movement of said door to move the rear margin thereof inwardly, and said sealing strip across said guard strip whereby said sealing strip will engage and swing into sealing relationship with said guard strip in the final closing movement of said door.

10. In a railway freight car having a wall provided with a door opening, a guard strip secured to said wall adjacent the rear of said opening, said guard strip extending outwardly substantially to the outer plane of said wall, a track having a depending flange secured to said car, a door for closing said opening slidably supported upon said track, a sealing, strip swingably carried upon the rear margin of said door, said sealing strip being normally positioned outwardly relative to said guard strip, an indenture provided on said track flange, hook-shaped means on said door receiving said track flange and engageable with. said indenture in the closing movement of said door to move the rear margin of said door inwardly and said sealing strip across said guard strip whereby said sealing strip will engage and swing into sealing relationship with said guard strip in the final closing movement of said door.

11. In a railway freight car having a wall provided with a door opening, a guard strip secured to said wall adjacent the rear of said opening, said guard strip extending outwardly substantially to the outer plane of said wall, a pocket in saidwall extending rearwardly from said guard 5 strip, a track. secured to said car, a door for closing said opening slidably supported upon said track, a sealing strip swingably carried upon the rear margin of said door, said sealing strip being normally positioned outwardly relative to said guard strip and cooperating means on said car and sealing strip engageable in the closing movement of said door to swing said sealing strip into said pocket and across said guard strip to insure sealing engagement between said strips.

12. In a railway freight car having a wall provided with a door opening, a guard strip secured to said wall adjacent the rear of said opening, said guard. strip extending outwardly substantially to the outer plane of said wall, a pocket in said wall extending rearwardly from said guard strip, a track secured to said car, a door for closing said opening slidably supported upon said track, a sealing stripv swingably carried upon the rear margin of said door, said sealing strip being normally positioned outwardly relative to said guard strip, an abutment provided on said track, means on said door engageable with said abutment in the closing movement of said door to move the rear margin thereof inwardly and said sealing strip across said guard stripwhereby said sealing strip will engage said guard strip and swing into said pocket in sealing relationship with said guard strip in the final closing movement of said door.

SAMUEL REESE. 

